Stephen Sondheim in Discussion

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 10/13/10 at 8:35pm

I attended a discussion/interview with Stephen Sondheim this evening here in the UK and have written a review/report if anyone is interested in reading it:

Wednesday, 13 October 2010Stephen Sondheim (A discussion) – Cheltenham Town Hall (October 13th 2010)
It is very hard for me to write this. You see, just a few hours ago, I spoke to Stephen Sondheim. One of the most influential Broadway composers of all time, and generally considered to be amongst the great American composers of the last Century and one of the best composer/lyricists in theatre history (having such works as West Side Story [lyrics], Gypsy [lyrics], Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street [music & lyrics] and A Little Night Music [music & lyrics] under his belt) . And tonight, he was in Cheltenham. He was giving an interview for the Cheltenham Literary festival.

The event was mainly to publicise his book Finishing The Hat which is a collection of all of his lyrics (cut songs and kept songs) for all of his shows from West Side Story (his professional debut in 1957) to Merrily We Roll Along (his last show with Hal Prince in 1981 until Bounce in 2003).

He goes through in great detail, annotating, showing alternate lyrics and even shows photocopies of original scoring and writing. The book also contains Sondheim’s view of the many people he has associated himself with and worked with throughout his life, from Jerome Robbins to Oscar Hammerstein II.

The start of the interview was marked by the interviewer (who I can’t remember the name of) pointing out that in the book, Sondheim expresses his displeasure for the English lyricists Noel Coward and W.S. Gilbert. OK, so it is apparent that Sondheim is a very critical man. But not critical of the people you understand, he is critical of their lyrics, just like he is critical of his own lyrics. He states that he finds nothing about Gilbert’s lyrics funny and in comparison to Cole Porter, Noel Coward is somewhat more crass and vulgar in his satirical outlook on the upper classes.

Another lyricist who Sondheim is critical of is Oscar Hammerstein II, whose lyrics are said by Sondheim to be ‘too sunshiney’ and his characters to be ‘not actual characters, just a set of characteristics’ – by this he appears to be implying that Hammerstein’s shows are normally made of stock characters who play off one another. This criticism is not completely unfounded though; Sondheim says that is was Hammerstein himself who taught him to be critical. Sondheim was partially raised by Hammerstein, and he refers to the legendary lyricist as his ‘mentor’ and ‘surrogate father’. Sondheim had a hard upbringing with his mother and would it not for Oscar Hammerstein, probably would have drifted into the same low life his mother had led.

As mentioned before, Sondheim is also critical of his own lyrics. He mentions the difficult in writing to fit a specific accent or dialect and also talks of having to re-write some of his lyrics for different audiences. The show containing what Sondheim calls his most ‘embarrassing’ lyrics is probably his most famous. In 1957, Sondheim wrote the lyrics for Leonard Bernstein’s music in West Side Story. And he openly detests many of the ‘overly romantic’ lyrics to this show and things that were completely out of character such as most of Maria’s lyrics in I Feel Pretty. Sondheim personally refers to this stage of his career as his ‘My Fair lady period’.

Sondheim went on to talk about other parts of his career including more on lyrics, how he fits his music together with the lyrics (he writes lyrics first and the tune applies itself to the conversational style of his lyrics) and people who have interpreted his work (he holds a particular affection for Glynis Johns [who played Desiree Armfeldt in the Original Broadway Production of A Little Night Music].)

He then took questions from the audience, which in the most part were quite average (what’s your favourite show of yours) and one particularly embarrassing one, as one man in the audience proceeded to talk about his favourite Sondheim song One from A Chorus Line…only to be interrupted by the man himself to be told that he neither wrote that song or that show.

When the interview had concluded (after a brief discussion about modern musical theatre and how Mr. Sondheim doesn’t agree that contemporary rock and rap music should have a place in the theatre) it was announced that Mr. Sondheim would be doing a signing of his book.

So all rushed to quickly buy the book (which was a handsome £30) and get it signed by the man himself. Personal photos weren’t allowed, but a friend of mine managed to take a photo of me talking to Mr. Sondheim. And he was very nice, wishing me good luck for my career. He could only sign for half an hour due to arthritis (he was challenged with rhyming that) but many people came away happy with their new book.

It was a truly unique evening for people to meet the man they admire and have a definite divine experience. Updated On: 10/13/10 at 08:35 PM

[uncageg]

Posted: 10/13/10 at 8:46pm

I have the book on order at my library. I am sure I am going to want to own it.

Glad you had a good evening. I would love to meet him as he is my favorite composer/lyricist.

[ABB2357]

Posted: 10/13/10 at 8:49pm

Thanks so much for the recap. I saw Sondheim speak in conversation with Frank Rich about a year ago and it was a great experience. The 90-minute presentation could have easily gone on for several hours - they barely covered two or three shows in that time! I'm sure no one in the audience would have complained if they had.

Let us know how the book is, too. Mine's pre-ordered from Amazon but it seems the UK is lucky enough to get it first.

[JOak]

Posted: 10/13/10 at 8:50pm

He didn't sign at the Donmar discussion .

[Amalia Balash]

Posted: 10/14/10 at 2:11am

Thanks for the recap! I can't think of a book I've looked forward to more and it's finally almost here!

[luke-h***]

Posted: 10/14/10 at 4:19am

I attended the discussion, with ClapYoHands and would just like to add how much I enjoyed the event. It was really something completely inspiring to hear him talk and to sit about 20 feet away from such an incredible man; and toward the end of the night, be a handshake away from him.

I felt so priviliged to have spoken to someone who is such an influence in the world of theatre, and to many. I can not begin to say how much I admire his work and how fulfilling it was to meet him.

And the book is extraordinary! Sure, it was a shame that his arthritis was too bad to sign my Story so Far CD, but to have such a wonderful book in my hands, signed by the man himself is just...awesome! And I too had an action shot of me and Mr. Sondheim in mid-conversation, but unfortunately after he'd signed my book, I was shaking so much that any attempt I made to take of photo of just him totally failed.
But that doesn't matter, there'es plenty of pictures of just him around after all!

All in all it was a very exciting experience, and I could've sat and listened to him talk for hours and hours; such a lovely guy, and my new favourite claim to fame: I spoke to Stephen Sondheim!

[jv92]

Posted: 10/14/10 at 8:24am

Sorry to hear he has arthritis. That's not fun at all.

As for the book, which this American ordered express mail from England (I had set aside some money for it), it's so far wonderful. I'm skimmed through it, reading passages on all of the lyricists (He really dislikes Alan Jay Lerner, doesn't he?) and now I'm reading it in full. Absolutely brilliant! Well worth the wait.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 3:32pm

This was recorded and is now available to listen to online at the BBC i-player website.

There's some new and interesting stuff in here as well as retreading some familiar territory.

Luke, CYH: Guys, I hope you weren't amongst those hissing him.

Give it a few seconds to allow the preceding soap to finish.




"I wrote a big long list about why Pacific Overtures should be a hit." Updated On: 10/21/10 at 03:32 PM

[uncageg]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 4:54pm

Scripps2, thank you for posting that link.

[Wicked Fanatic]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 4:55pm

Thanks for the review. I'm looking forward to hearing him when he appears at UCLA's Royce Hall on November 8th.

[Amalia Balash]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 5:33pm

Thanks for the link! Looking forward to this book so much!

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 5:34pm

So are we Americans definitely getting the ugly cover?

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 5:48pm

I hope so!

Nah, i'm kidding!

Although, it is annoying that they edited that interview down to 30 minutes!